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Saturday, 23 April 2016

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon: Hours 9-16

Hello again, lovely readers! I hope you're all having a wonderful time so far, reading and eating and doing challenges! I've already completed my Hours 0-4 and Hours 5-8 posts, so we're into the third stretch of readathonning here on the blog. I have to admit, the way my eyes (and sort of body in general) are feeling already, I'm not sure I'll be reading much beyond midnight before I go to sleep this time around. Still a couple of hours before we hit that point though, so let's read on!

~ Hour 9 (10pm) ~I've been reading:A Play on Words by Deric LongdenPages read since my last update: 14Pages read altogether: 246Mini challenges completed: 5The menu: A handful of raspberries, a few sips of a new mug of decaff coffeeIn six words: Reading Deric Longden... like coming home!Thoughts: I picked a new book! I decided to go with a warm and familiar read, and pick up one of Deric Longden's autobiographical 'cat books'. I haven't read this particular one before, despite having owned it for TEN YEARS, but these joyful little reads have been some of my favourites since I was a child and they always make me laugh. Perfect for the into-the-night portion of the readathon!

For this challenge, we have to pick a character we'd go on a road trip with, plus three destinations we'd hit up along the way!

I think I'd head to the U.S. with Dorian Gray for a road trip fuelled by a steady descent into pleasure and naughtiness. Doesn't that sound amazing?! We'd start classy, doing some shopping (including book shopping!) and enjoying some yummy food in New York. Then we'd head to New Orleans to get a little down and dirty in the bars and jazz clubs of the French Quarter. After that we'd be nicely prepped to head to Las Vegas to drink and throw away disgusting amounts of money in the casinos. Then we could spend a week poolside recovering before returning to England!

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!

~ Hour 10 (11pm) ~I've been reading: Sweet FAPages read since my last update: 0Pages read altogether: 246Mini challenges completed: 5The menu: Decaff coffee, a big bowl of frosted flakes, vanilla rooibos teaIn six words: Medication! *Riiiiide into the Danger Zone...* 🎶Thoughts: This hour has mostly been for doing little chores, checking Instagram, saying goodnight to the rest of the household, and eating cereal. It has ALSO been the hour in which I've finally taken my evening dose of medication, which means I could be getting reaaaaaal sleepy up in here sometime in the next half hour or so. Man, remember when I used to be able to do 24-hour readathons on LibraryThing every weekend without flinching? Those were the days... *yawns expansively*

~ Hour 11 (12 midnight) ~I've been reading:A Play on Words by Deric LongdenPages read since my last update: 13

Pages read altogether: 259Mini challenges completed: 6The menu: The last of my vanilla rooibos teaIn six words: My eyes huuurt! *stares around blearily*Thoughts: Yeaaaah, I'm totes not getting much further tonight. I might last another hour or so but my eyes are burning and my head's all fuzzy and despite the loveliness that is Deric Longden's writing, I'm just not going to get through the night. My medication's kicked in nicely and my pillow's looking more delicious by the minute (in an 'I want to rest on it' way, not an 'I want to eat it' way - I'm not THAT tired), so... time to start winding down a bit, I think. Better to sleep now and read more tomorrow than keep pushing it and crash by breakfast time!

I like to match my readathon buddy to my book for that extra-immersive experience.

MINI CHALLENGE: THE MID-EVENT SURVEY!1. What are you reading right now?
Deric Longden's A Play on Words. It's his fourth 'cat autobiography', I think, about life in Huddersfield with his motley crew of feline buddies and his blind wife, the writer Aileen Armitage. I've loved this series since I was a child but for some reason have never made it beyond rereading the first three over and over, so now seems like a good time to break out of that little cycle and carry on! The gift tag tucked inside the front cover says it was bought for me as a Christmas gift TEN YEARS AGO. *hides face in shame*2. How many books have you read so far?
Two down so far! I've already finished The Suicide Shop by Jean Teulé, a translated novella, and Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell, a 'quick read' for young adults published for World Book Day here in the UK.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the read-a-thon?
This Deric Longden book! I've had my eye on it ever since I started making my TBR pile. :)4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
My mum interrupted a few times early on, to deliberately throw me off and to raid my snack pile. She's been painting the spare room all day so maybe the emulsion fumes got to her or something, haha. Other than that it's all been interruptions of my own making - a bout of burning eyes here, a YouTube break there, a little wander downstairs to do some chores... you get the idea.5. What surprises you most about the read-a-thon so far?
How exhausted I've been since about 7pm. I used to do 24-hour readathons literally every week on my days off from the bookshop, and regularly got through the night with little more than a cat-nap or three, but now? I COULDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO MY REGULAR BEDTIME. I mean, I haven't actually slept yet, but I'm absolutely knackered. I think I'll fade out for the night in the next hour or so!

~ Hour 16 (5am) ~I've been reading: The inside of my own eyelidsPages read since my last update: LOL nopePages read altogether: 259Mini challenges completed: 6The menu: Sweet, sweet reposeIn six words: I went to sleep, okay? #blissThoughts: I'd probably still be asleep tbh, except I was busting for the loo (my 'too much to drink before bed' wakeup strategy actually worked!) and the cat was scratching at the door and the birds were singing and now Domino's paddling on my stomach and giving my hand a bath and REALLY, I couldn't go back to sleep knowing it's readathon weekend, could I? No. I could not. Let's go.

ME, MYSELF AND I

I'm Ellie, and I live with my family in a village smack bang in the middle of England (though we're definitely Northerners in spirit). Until the end of 2013 my mum and I ran a little second-hand bookshop in a quaint tourist town. I have three cats - Millie, Domino and Leo - and I love gerbera daisies, Milkybar buttons, The Mighty Boosh and online jigsaw puzzles. And books, obviously...